Sense and Sensibility (1971) 4/4
Jul. 16th, 2025 07:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallowness1.4 'Resolution'
This started with a rather racy scene (not really, but it was for this adaptation), where Elinor came to call upon Mr Ferrars (their choices of name for each other) in his own rooms and his shirt was just a bit loose. She came to pass on Colonel Brandon’s offer, he wanted to explain himself. She wouldn’t let him and had to nobly pass on the ‘and now you can marry Lucy’ bit. There was that little moment where Edward assumes Brandon is doing this because he's sweet on Elinor, but it wasn’t dwelt upon.
The party left London, and again kudos for showing the carriage ride as uncomfortable for them all (not shown: the Palmers travelling with a newborn. In fact, I suspect they used a doll for the one scene with baby Palmer.) They arrived at the Palmers’, where Marianne promptly fainted and Charlotte had hysterics. Not going to judge too harshly, because of the newborn baby.
Blah blah fever, at least the doctor didn’t bleed or leach her, but who knows what was in his draught? Mrs Jennings was kind but ridiculous, Brandon got sent off to fetch Mrs D.
You could tell they hadn’t got much of a budget because we saw the Dashwoods’ matching travelling clothes again. Er, I mean the layout of the Palmer’s hall cum reception room which didn’t really match the exterior, but allowed one fancy camera shot. Elinor had to listen to Willoughby’s side of the story, and though the priggishness was high from her, I did love her sisterliness towards the young woman Willoughby had knocked up and Mrs Willoughby, standing up for both in her way.
The fever broke! Brandon brought Mrs D, they chose to have Elinor break down all over him, he didn’t know what to do. It soon became apparent that Mrs D was in matchmaker mode, having divined that Brandon loved Marianne. I noted that he referred to her as a ‘child’ once and they kept using infantilising language about her. As the actor was no Alan Rickman, here Brandon would woo Marianne with poetry talk not poetry reading. Before that, Elinor doling out Willoughby’s story and it soothing Marianne’s mind was only so-so, as Marianne claimed she would devote herself to serious stuff (poetry and music) from now on.
The Dashwoods returned home, leaving Mrs Jennings alone for a day, gloriously immune to Marianne’s rudeness (Elinor apologised, but she was always decent to Mrs J) and in ignorance of Brandon’s true feelings or nature. But they did show her kind heart, and that she was a mother to two daughters and thus able to do the right thing by Elinor and Marianne during Marianne’s crisis.
At Barton Cottage, Mary the maid duly passed on the news about ‘Miss Lucy as was’ - the point about Lucy being bitch enough to make sure Elinor know her fakish news was clear. We saw that she took it with much less hysteria than Marianne, obviously, but also knew that it was devastating.
But then! Edward returned and it was awkward until he explained that Lucy had married Robert, and Mrs D shoved him and Elinor out to the garden. They contrived to show us the start of his proposal, and then we had to make do with Marianne half watching them (presumably kissing) and half receiving her gentleman caller. The romance outdoors (on location) inspired Brandon to mumble something that could be interpreted as a proposal/permission to kiss her hand (comparisons with the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson adap jumped to mind.) And all was resolved.
Although it really wasn’t the best adaptation, Patricia Routledge’s Mrs Jennings aside. Robin Eliis’s Edward was probably the more naturalistic of the younger set, perhaps helped by his not really having all that much speechifying to do. Willoughby spilling his guts works so much better on the page, and everyone spilling to Elinor is a huge narrative device in S&S, but generally everyone was too theatrical.
This started with a rather racy scene (not really, but it was for this adaptation), where Elinor came to call upon Mr Ferrars (their choices of name for each other) in his own rooms and his shirt was just a bit loose. She came to pass on Colonel Brandon’s offer, he wanted to explain himself. She wouldn’t let him and had to nobly pass on the ‘and now you can marry Lucy’ bit. There was that little moment where Edward assumes Brandon is doing this because he's sweet on Elinor, but it wasn’t dwelt upon.
The party left London, and again kudos for showing the carriage ride as uncomfortable for them all (not shown: the Palmers travelling with a newborn. In fact, I suspect they used a doll for the one scene with baby Palmer.) They arrived at the Palmers’, where Marianne promptly fainted and Charlotte had hysterics. Not going to judge too harshly, because of the newborn baby.
Blah blah fever, at least the doctor didn’t bleed or leach her, but who knows what was in his draught? Mrs Jennings was kind but ridiculous, Brandon got sent off to fetch Mrs D.
You could tell they hadn’t got much of a budget because we saw the Dashwoods’ matching travelling clothes again. Er, I mean the layout of the Palmer’s hall cum reception room which didn’t really match the exterior, but allowed one fancy camera shot. Elinor had to listen to Willoughby’s side of the story, and though the priggishness was high from her, I did love her sisterliness towards the young woman Willoughby had knocked up and Mrs Willoughby, standing up for both in her way.
The fever broke! Brandon brought Mrs D, they chose to have Elinor break down all over him, he didn’t know what to do. It soon became apparent that Mrs D was in matchmaker mode, having divined that Brandon loved Marianne. I noted that he referred to her as a ‘child’ once and they kept using infantilising language about her. As the actor was no Alan Rickman, here Brandon would woo Marianne with poetry talk not poetry reading. Before that, Elinor doling out Willoughby’s story and it soothing Marianne’s mind was only so-so, as Marianne claimed she would devote herself to serious stuff (poetry and music) from now on.
The Dashwoods returned home, leaving Mrs Jennings alone for a day, gloriously immune to Marianne’s rudeness (Elinor apologised, but she was always decent to Mrs J) and in ignorance of Brandon’s true feelings or nature. But they did show her kind heart, and that she was a mother to two daughters and thus able to do the right thing by Elinor and Marianne during Marianne’s crisis.
At Barton Cottage, Mary the maid duly passed on the news about ‘Miss Lucy as was’ - the point about Lucy being bitch enough to make sure Elinor know her fakish news was clear. We saw that she took it with much less hysteria than Marianne, obviously, but also knew that it was devastating.
But then! Edward returned and it was awkward until he explained that Lucy had married Robert, and Mrs D shoved him and Elinor out to the garden. They contrived to show us the start of his proposal, and then we had to make do with Marianne half watching them (presumably kissing) and half receiving her gentleman caller. The romance outdoors (on location) inspired Brandon to mumble something that could be interpreted as a proposal/permission to kiss her hand (comparisons with the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson adap jumped to mind.) And all was resolved.
Although it really wasn’t the best adaptation, Patricia Routledge’s Mrs Jennings aside. Robin Eliis’s Edward was probably the more naturalistic of the younger set, perhaps helped by his not really having all that much speechifying to do. Willoughby spilling his guts works so much better on the page, and everyone spilling to Elinor is a huge narrative device in S&S, but generally everyone was too theatrical.
